The Girlfriend Experience | |
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Directed by | Steven Soderbergh |
Written by | |
Produced by | |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Peter Andrews |
Edited by | Mary Ann Bernard |
Music by | Ross Godfrey |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Magnolia Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 77 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1.7 million |
Box office | $1 million [1] |
The Girlfriend Experience is a 2009 American slice-of-life drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and starring then-pornographic actress Sasha Grey. [2] [3] It was shot in New York City, and a rough cut was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. [4] The film was also made available on Amazon Video on Demand as a pre-theatrical rental. [5]
Soderbergh mentioned Michelangelo Antonioni's Red Desert and Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers as influences. The film is also notable because it was produced for $1.3 million and was shot with a relatively inexpensive Red One camera. [6]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013) |
In the days leading up to the 2008 presidential election, a high-end Manhattan escort meets the challenges of her boyfriend, her clients, and her work. Chelsea (real name Christine) specializes in offering girlfriend experiences. She finds that lately her clients are spending less and less on her services, and are troubled by the financial crisis, a topic they raise frequently in her company. She is also interviewed by a journalist, who quizzes her about her work and personal life. She goes from client to client performing her services.
As of June 2020 [update] , the film has a 67% approval rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 139 reviews with an average rating of 6.39/10. The website's critics consensus states: "Steven Soderbergh's latest lo-fi production is strikingly crafted but emotionally vague". [7]
Roger Ebert rated the film four out of four stars, saying "This film is true about human nature. It clearly sees needs and desires. It is not universal, but within its particular focus, it is unrelenting." [8]
On the opposite end of the spectrum, David Edelstein of New York Magazine complained that, "Most of the dialogue is listless, and no matter how much Soderbergh snips and stitches, the movie is a corpse with twitching limbs." [9] Luke Davies, critic for The Monthly , wrote that the film is "disposable and pretentious" and "is shot sombrely and austerely, in a style that might be described as 'vacuous chic'" and concluded that "as a film in which a porn star's presence is a fundamental marketing hook, it is masturbation." [10]
In June 2014, Starz committed to a 13-episode order for a new television series, based on the film, with Soderbergh and Philip Fleishman as executive producers. Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz co-wrote and directed all 13 episodes. Though the main character uses the same name as Sasha Grey’s character in the film, Grey does not appear in the series. [11] Riley Keough starred as the new lead, described by Soderbergh as "a new character on a new trajectory". [12] Season 2 featured new stories focusing on two different sets of characters. [13] Season 3 was announced in July by Starz. [14] The third season, featuring Julia Goldani Telles in the lead, premiered on May 2, 2021. [15]
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventive films made within the studio system.
Sex, Lies, and Videotape is a 1989 American independent drama film written and directed by Steven Soderbergh. The plot tells the story of a troubled man who videotapes women discussing their sexuality and fantasies, and its impact on the relationships of a troubled married couple and the wife's younger sister.
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Full Frontal is a 2002 American comedy-drama film by Steven Soderbergh about a day in the life of a handful of characters in Hollywood. It stars Catherine Keener, Blair Underwood, David Duchovny, Julia Roberts, Mary McCormack, Nicky Katt, Brad Pitt, and David Hyde Pierce. The film was shot on digital video using the Canon XL-1s in under a month. The film blurs the line between what is real and what is fiction in its depiction of a film within a film.
Bubble is a 2005 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh about three low-paid doll factory workers, one of whom is murdered. Soderbergh also shot and edited the film under the pseudonyms Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard, taken from his father's given names and his mother's maiden name, respectively. The film was shot on high-definition video.
Jill Marie Jones is an American actress and former professional dancer and cheerleader. Jones is best known for her role as Antoinette "Toni" Childs-Garrett on the UPN comedy series, Girlfriends (2000–2006). Jones has appeared in a number of films, and had the recurring role as Cynthia Irving on the Fox supernatural series, Sleepy Hollow (2013–15). From 2015 to 2016, she starred as Amanda Fisher in the Starz horror-comedy series, Ash vs Evil Dead.
Kafka is a 1991 mystery thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Ostensibly a biopic, based on the life of Franz Kafka, the film blurs the lines between fact and Kafka's fiction, creating a Kafkaesque atmosphere. It was written by Lem Dobbs, and stars Jeremy Irons in the title role, with Theresa Russell, Ian Holm, Jeroen Krabbé, Joel Grey, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Alec Guinness. Simon McBurney appears in his film debut. It was partially filmed on location in Prague.
Katherine Emily Hewlett is a Canadian film, television, and stage actress.
Lovesong is a 2016 American drama film directed by So Yong Kim, who co-wrote the film with Bradley Rust Gray. It stars Jena Malone, Riley Keough, Brooklyn Decker, Amy Seimetz, Marshall Chapman, Ryan Eggold, and Rosanna Arquette.
Peter Eric Zizzo is an American songwriter, music producer, musician and writer. Zizzo is also a stage and television actor, having appeared in the Showtime series Billions in 2021. Zizzo has written hits for artists such as Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, Jennifer Lopez, Marit Larsen, O.A.R, Jason Mraz, Donna Summer, Diana Ross, M2M, Cliff Richard, Clay Aiken, Howie Day, Kate Voegele, Jackie Evancho, Pixie Lott, Vanessa Carlton, and many others. He has been considered instrumental in developing the careers of artists Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton in the US, and Pixie Lott in the UK. Recordings of his songs have collectively sold in excess of 100 million copies worldwide.
Marina Ann Hantzis, known professionally as Sasha Grey, is an American actress, model, writer, musician, and former pornographic film actress. She began her acting career in the pornographic film industry, winning 15 awards for her work between 2007 and 2010, including the AVN Award for Female Performer of the Year in 2008. In 2023, she was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame and the XRCO Hall of Fame.
Step Up is an American romantic-dance anthology franchise created by Duane Adler, the franchise includes six films and a television series. The films have received a generally mixed critical reception, while being a box office success with a collective total of $651 million.
Moneyball is a 2011 American biographical sports drama film that was directed by Bennett Miller with a script by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin from a story by Stan Chervin. The film is based on the 2003 nonfiction book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis. The book is an account of the Oakland Athletics baseball team's 2002 season and their general manager Billy Beane's attempts to assemble a competitive team. In the film, Beane and assistant general manager Peter Brand, faced with the franchise's limited budget for players, build a team of undervalued talent by taking a sophisticated sabermetric approach to scouting and analyzing players. Philip Seymour Hoffman also stars as Art Howe.
Amy Seimetz is an American actress and filmmaker. She has appeared in several productions, including AMC's The Killing, HBO's Family Tree, and films like Upstream Color, Alien: Covenant, Pet Sematary, and No Sudden Move.
Alaina Antoinette Hicks, known by her stage name Bonnie Rotten, is an American former pornographic actress, feature dancer, fetish model, and director. In 2014, she became the first alt-porn star to win the AVN Award for Female Performer of the Year.
The Girlfriend Experience is an American anthology drama television series created, written, and directed by Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz shown on the premium cable network Starz. The first season stars Riley Keough as Christine Reade, a law student intern who also works as a high-end escort. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, it is based on the 2009 film of the same name. A 13-episode first season premiered on April 10, 2016, and all episodes were made available on Starz On Demand.
The Lodge is a 2019 psychological horror film directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, written by Franz, Fiala, and Sergio Casci, and starring Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Alicia Silverstone, and Richard Armitage. Its plot follows a soon-to-be stepmother who, alone with her fiancé's two children, becomes stranded at their rural lodge during Christmas. There, she and the children experience a number of unexplained events that seem to be connected to her past.
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